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Guide to Stove Costs

How much will it cost to install a wood burning stove? Below is our guide to what an installation is likely to cost. We have broken cost considerations down into the cost of the stove and the cost of installation.

Stove Costs

Stove costs vary enormously. Small, cast stoves imported from China are readily available from national retail outlets such as B&Q or Machine Mart from as little as £250. The quality of these stoves in below the standard UK industry level with frustrating design flaws, such as the glass blacking up daily, high maintenance requirements and short life spans.

We have handpicked the stoves we stock from high quality UK and Scandinavian manufacturers including Charnwood and Jotul. Our stove prices start at £700 (including VAT) for a 5kW wood burner and go up to several thousand pounds for some of our larger products. Our range of high quality stoves offer sophisticated air controls - so the glass never blacks up - high efficiencies and excellent build qualities that give 20-40 year life spans, but they are naturally more expensive.

Those considering a wood or multifuel burner for the first time will be presented with a huge range of stoves on the market with little insight into why prices vary so much. We want to cut through the dense detail and provide you with the salient points. The easiest way to sum up the variations in price and quality in the market is to do a specific comparison on similar sized stoves that vary enormously in price.

We have created a comparison table to compare a £400, £800 and £1,200 5kW DEFRA exempt multi-fuel stove. Not all of the specifications will apply to every stove in that price range, but most will and more importantly you can ask the right questions about the stoves and manufacturers that have caught your eye.

£400 stove

£800 stove

£1200 stove

Life expectancy

2-5 years

10-15 years

20 years +

Origin

China

Part UK part China manufactured

UK or Scandinavian manufactured

Body thickness

3mm

4mm

5mm

Top and bottom thickness

6mm

8mm

10mm

Construction

Welded steel or very thin cast iron

Part rolled, part welded steel body. Medium weight cast iron

Rolled steel body/cast door very heavy cast iron

Grate

Solid fuel grate that also has to burn wood

Solid fuel grate that also has to burn wood

Robust, full width multi-grate that can be switched from wood to coal in situ

Manual primary and secondary air inlets. Airwash keeps glass clean but may use cold air to do so, lowering efficiencies

Single knob control that optimizes primary and secondary air, Airwash keeps glass clean and uses pre-warmed air to do this.

Hearth

Needs a constructional hearth

May need a constructional hearth

Only requires a non-combustible hearth

Replacement parts readily available?

No

Yes

Yes- guaranteed to stay in production for 7 years after the stove is discontinued.

Installation costs

Every stove installation is different but many of the component parts of the installation, and their costs, are fairly consistent. Below is a rough guide to the cost of installing a stove – with and without a chimney breast. The total cost will vary according to the stove you choose.

Installations start from as little as £1,900 (incl. VAT) for a smaller stove, which includes lining the chimney, commissioning and handover (including HETAS registration). Installations without a chimney breast requiring a twin wall insulated chimney system start at around £3,500. If you require building works there will be additional costs.